A Notredamian's journey to a top US university

"I believe that in today's world, finding the right balance between what our head says and what our heart says may open new doors of opportunity," says Laidlaw Scholar Jahir Islam, a rising sophomore at Tufts University, coming from the NCTB background.

Jahir Islam completed his HSC from Notre Dame College, Dhaka, in 2022. Last year, he went to the United States of America (USA) to attend Tufts University, one of the top research universities in the USA. Currently, he is planning to study Mathematics and Quantitative Economics. In a conversation with the Financial Express representative, Jahir shares his journey to become a Laidlaw Scholar in 2024.

The Laidlaw Scholars Leadership and Research Programme aims to develop a new generation of leaders who are skilled researchers, embrace data-based decision-making, and believe it is a moral imperative to lead with integrity. The foundation collaborates with 18 prestigious universities (including Oxford and Cambridge) to annually select up to 25 exceptional undergraduate students from each partner university for the Laidlaw Scholars Leadership and Research Program. The Laidlaw Scholars Venture (LSV), a US$ 50 million-backed venture funding initiative for start-ups founded and run by Laidlaw Scholars, also provides exclusive funding to alums of the programme. Jahir Islam is one of those highly deserving students to achieve this opportunity.

Eligible undergraduate students from all disciplines at Laidlaw partner universities can apply to their respective institutions. As a Tufts University student, Jahir Islam was eligible to apply for the programme. However, this programme prefers applicants in their second year of a four-year programme, so for Jahir, being accepted while a freshman was unlikely. Still, he achieved this accolade with immense prowess in research and leadership.

"The application process asks for a Statement of Interest/Research Description, three personal essays, a Statement of Support from the faculty mentor, two letters of recommendation, the student's resume, and an unofficial transcript. Applicants are then shortlisted and go through an interview process before being selected and nominated to the Laidlaw Foundation for funding," Jahir Islam says about the application procedure.

In the fall of 2022, when Jahir was applying to the United States, he only used Tufts University (Early Decision) and got in with complete needs met. In 2021, he started a social enterprise, for which he was awarded at the United Nations Hub in Expo 2020 Dubai. In addition, he was a speaker for the World Bank Group Solutions for Youth Employment and served Doha Debates (a production by the Qatar Foundation) as an ambassador. He was also a national winner at the Bangladesh Physics Olympiad and an awardee at the International Earth Science Olympiad. Jahir says about his Tufts acceptance, "I believe that my parents', especially my mother's, support for my extracurricular pursuits, combined with my academic excellence throughout high school, helped me to stand out in this highly competitive process."

At Tufts, Jahir is one of the 17 Arts, Science & Engineering Student Experience Advisory Group members to provide ideas, feedback, and advice to the Dean of Students Office on vision, programming, climate, and decisions related to the campus community and student engagement. About his acceptance to the Laidlaw Scholars Program, he says, "I think my academic performance at Tufts and strong letters of recommendation, along with my background in olympiads, showed my capacity to conduct academically rigorous research. Besides, my three-year experience working with multilateral stakeholders and the real-world skills helped me in getting into this programme."

Before the Laidlaw application, Jahir already had three years of experience working with multilateral stakeholders at this age. He hopes to explore how we can best leverage emerging technologies like Artificial Intelligence to bridge education disparities, including the data divide and the global youth skills gap. He has recently started an initiative named "Bettre Institute" with this mission in mind, and the Derby Entrepreneurship Center at Tufts University also supports this. Apart from his extracurricular achievements, Jahir is unmatched in academics, too; he attained Dean's List status for maintaining an honour average during the Fall 2023 academic term. His strong letters of recommendation, captivating research ideas, and innovative plans to solve social issues helped him get into the programme as an emerging leader in his field. He says, "Laidlaw Foundation's mission of transforming lives through inspirational education, developing the next generation of leaders, and fueling women in leadership deeply resonated with me and was compelling enough for me to apply to this programme."

For the Laidlaw Scholars Research and Leadership program, Jahir has chosen to explore how financial and system innovation can help solve intractable global problems. Laidlaw's programmes got him hooked because he had similar experiences and interests for a long time, especially child labour and youth employment. About his application, Jahir says, "A renowned Tufts alum, Neil Blumenthal, said, 'When skill and passion meet, the world is made better.' From my application, I had the feeling that my skill and passion had finally met."

Jahir Islam came from an NCTB background in Bangladesh and attended a top research university, utilising its resources to achieve more every single moment. When describing his passion for solving social issues, e.g., child labour, forced labour, etc., he says, "I believe that with the right financing solutions and by leveraging technology, we can significantly reduce child labour and forced labour and strengthen businesses' research and development capacity, thus creating decent jobs for young people."

[email protected]